In what is quite possibly the only news that I care about in 2020, there’s a brand spankin’ new Crash Bandicoot game around the corner and hoo boy, I really cannot explain the excitement I feel deep in my soul.
They’ve really hit the nail on the head here with the name Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, because it really is about time for a new addition to the beloved franchise – being over a decade since they last blessed us with one.
There are simply no words to describe that warm and fuzzy nostalgic feeling you get when playing a Crash Bandicoot game. I simply cannot stress just how much I love that beloved bandicoot (disclaimer: I thought a bandicoot was a mythical creature until like a year ago).
The game is set to be released on Playstation 4 on Friday October 2, but the team behind the Crash franchise have shared a first look at the highly anticipated game to keep us busy until it’s finally released.
Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time is the first brand new game in the series in over a decade and is a direct sequel, picking up exactly where Crash Bandicoot 3 left off.
We’re basically thrown back into the franchise after Doctor Neo Cortex and N. Tropy bust their way out of an interdimensional prison, ripping a big ol’ hole in time and space in the process. As you’d expect, that’s usually not a good thing.
Our boy Crash Bandicoot (played by you, your mum or whoever chooses to pick up the controller) is left to pick up the pieces and save the day, which obviously makes for some exciting gameplay.
As you try to patch up the holes in time and space, you get to explore exciting new worlds and experience space turtles (I *can* confirm these do not exist IRL, unlike the very-real bandicoot), futuristic cities and *checks notes* frozen zombie fishing villages.
In an exciting twist to anyone else who’s a big ol’ dinosaur nerd, you even get to yeet yourself back into prehistoric times to escape the wrath of an angry T-Rex who’s keen to eat you.
You also get to play around with the different Quantum Masks, which will appear as needed throughout the game, and will give you new abilities (like slowing down time) that you’ll need to complete the level.
When it comes to dying (the shit bit), you’re given two options: retro or modern mode. Retro offers a limited set of lives, and will send you back to the start of the level once you use them all up, while modern just resets to your most-recent checkpoint when you inevitably get eaten by a dinosaur.
The game is set to cater to diehard Crash fans, as well as those who have never picked up a console in their life, which is a win-win in my opinion. You get all the best bits of the original trilogy, but are also given exciting new challenges to test your skills (because you’re probably slightly better at playing than you were when the last addition to the trilogy was released).
To put it simply, the game is designed by die-hard Crash fans like you and me, which means they’ve taken inspiration from the OG game and mixed it with all the cool shit any fan would want to see in a remake. ICONIC.
In a huge win, the game has no in-app purchases now, or in the future, which means that once you foot the bill for the game itself, you won’t end up forking out your hard-earned cash on extra bits and pieces they didn’t warn you about.
2020 has been a wild year and I think we’d all love to go back in time, forget about the world’s problems and run away from some dinosaurs, so mark your calendars because it’s just a few short months before that becomes a very real option (in game, at least).
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is available for preorder now through most gaming retailers.
